b a b y s i t t i n g t h e p r e s i d e n t 's d a u g h t e r

Chapter 16: Wait, Who Are You Exactly?

One sunny day at Everton, Uncle Winston suddenly decided that I was to take inventory once again of the books in the library. For a shop such as my uncle's, no computers were available, and I was forced to write the titles and the authors names in the logbook, all by hand.

So out of the shelves the books go; piled all around the bookstore in neat stacks and recorded into the log books before being returned again. It was a messy state, books on the first shelf was sprawled like a hurricane had hit, and what made it worse, was the fact that everything was extremely dusty.

I was all on my own but managed to find a way to entertain myself somehow, having Mr. Henderson’s old radio player near me so the bookstore didn’t feel so empty.

"Interesting music you have around here." I suddenly heard a voice, recognizing it.

"Remy," I turned around; something in my heart leaped when he walked to where I was and sat on the chair next to the piles. He hadn't been in town for quite a long while now; said he had to take off on some errands though I didn't ask what they were.

There was his signature grin again, "I see you've kept busy.”

I looked down at my workspace; the place was an utter mess.

"When I said find a distraction, you really didn’t have to think that far,” He laughed, picking up a book and examining the fresh new labels I had fixed.

I heaved a heavy sigh, “Nobody comes in anyway.”

Remy looked up in surprise, “Why not?”

I shook my head; “The regulars were a little spooked after Mr. Henderson’s death. They said something spooky was happening to Everton.”

“Superstitious lot, huh?” Remy grinned, “Did they say it had something to do with the manuscript?”

I laughed; thinking about Mary and Ethel, who did not dare venture into the bookstore again. I then told Remy about the little crush some of the women had on Mr. Henderson while he had still been here.

“No way!” Remy had a wide smile, “The old man’s still got it.”

I shrugged, “I think it's sweet and sad at the same time.  I wonder how she’s doing.”

Remy didn’t reply and the songs from the radio were suddenly crisp and clear amidst the silence from us both. Curious about where he had been for a long time now, I had to ask. But he merely said he had to attend to some personal errands and I didn’t ask anymore.

Things were pretty quiet and serene as he stayed to help with the books, and we took our time arranging the books. We inspected every book, noting the frequent occurrence of a few people’s name such as Mr. Henderson, Remy, Ethel and Ms. Arabelle. They were the most constant names on the books.